The Castle of Good Hope: Cape Town’s Fortress of Stone, Shadow and Reported Ghosts

The stone gateway and bell tower of the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, under a clear blue sky

About 6 min readBuilt by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, the Castle of Good Hope is South Africa’s oldest surviving colonial building — a pentagonal fortress with a grim history of imprisonment and slavery, and a long list of reported ghosts.